Officer shoots, wounds motorist following road chase

SAN DIEGO - A police officer shot and wounded a fleeing motorist
Friday following a road chase that ended with a violent struggle
outside a University City-area commercial complex, authorities
reported.

The late-morning shooting at Genesee Avenue and Governor Drive
left the driver hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his right
shoulder, according to San Diego police. His identity remained
unconfirmed this evening.

The chain of events began about 10:45 a.m., when patrol officers
pulled over a Toyota Camry near University City High School due to
a seat-belt violation on the part of a passenger, SDPD Capt. Mary
Cornicelli said.

During the stop, the suspected safety-belt scofflaw suddenly ran
off, and the driver sped away, according to investigators.

The officers gave chase briefly, then dropped back for safety
reasons at the direction of a supervisor, Cornicelli said.

Minutes later, as patrol personnel searched the area around the
high school, an officer spotted the Camry parked behind a store in
a nearby shopping center.

The car — which investigators later learned had been stolen
several weeks ago from a Poway auto dealership — was
unoccupied.

A short distance away, however, an officer spotted a man
matching the suspect driver's description, Cornicelli said.

When the officer tried to flag the man down, he bolted back to
the parked Toyota, got inside it and locked the doors, the captain
said.

The officer ran over to the car and ordered the man out, but he
refused and started the engine, she said.

After using his baton to smash out the driver's side window, the
officer unlocked the door, opened it and tried to pull the suspect
out.

The driver then put the engine into reverse and backed up,
knocking the officer to the ground, according to the captain.

"The vehicle then accelerated toward the officer, who moved out
of the way," Cornicelli said. "Fearing the suspect would run over
an innocent person in the parking lot, the officer fired several
times at the suspect, striking him at least once."

The wounded man then drove around a corner, got out and ran into
a nearby gas station, where he tried to hide in an office area.
Officers then were able to take him into custody without further
incident.

They arrested him on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon,
auto theft and felony evasion of police, and medics took him to a
hospital. His condition was not released.

Administrators at the high school and two other nearby campuses
kept students inside their classrooms for several hours while
officers fanned out through the area in search of the second
suspect.